DEA agents faulted in detention of college student

Jul. 8, 2014
|

Department of Justice logo / Matt Slocum, AP

by Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

by Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - An internal Justice Department review into the 2012 improper detention of a San Diego college student, who was held by the Drug Enforcement Administration for nearly five days without food or water, found that four agency employees had either seen or heard Daniel Chong during his confinement but did not act because they "assumed'' that agents directly assigned to the case would tend to him.

Each of the four, according to a investigative summary issued Tuesday by Justice's inspector general, said there was "nothing unusual'' about their encounters with Chong between the time of his detention April 21 and his ultimate discovery April 25, when he was rushed to the hospital where he spent five days recovering.

Chong, who drank his own urine to avoid dehydration, last year received a $4.1 million as part of a settlement with the Justice Department.

The inspector general concluded that the decision not to pursue criminal prosecution in the case was "reasonable,'' but faulted the agents directly assigned to Chong's case, saying their failure to act appropriately resulted in the student's "unjustified detention and his need for significant medical treatment.''